Stonebridge Apartments open with ribbon-cutting ceremony

Sep 2018

MERRILL - Finding the right apartment can be hard.

Many times, it's either too expensive or too run-down.

The city of Merrill decided to change that with a new project which will expand housing options in the area. The project began in 2015. It's the first phase of a $16 million three-phase housing project.

The Stonebridge Apartment ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Friday. The public could come see the apartments themselves.

As Horizon Development Group Development Manager Scott Kwiecinski sees it, Merrill's housing was always either too expensive or too low-quality. But now, there's a happy medium.

"I'm sure there's other apartments in Merrill renting as high as $900 or $1,000 per month," said Kwiecinski.This $6 million complex was under construction for the past year.

"It had been over two years and nothing had happened," said Merrill Housing Authority Executive Director Paul Russell. "I told myself one way or another this would happen."

This apartment complex can house almost 50 individuals. It has 32 one-bedroom apartments and six two-bedroom apartments. The rent only gets as high as $440 per-month.

The housing targets low-income individual renters. While the rent stays low, the quality stays high."There's nothing different than what a marketplace would have, so you could lease it up," said Kwiecinski. "You wouldn't know it was affordable."

"We have waiting lists in every category of housing applications you can have," said Russell. "We had tenants in tears when they saw these apartments."

But Merrill hopes that with this project, that need will go down.

"[I hope that this will] create an asset that'll be here for 50 years or more," said Kwiecinski. "That's really a win for the community."

This complex comes with more than just an apartment, too.

There is also a community center, fitness center and beauty salon for the residents to enjoy.